What You Thought You Knew
by summerdaze87
Summary: When you hide the pain behind a door you never thought would be opened... and it is... what happens?  How do you face the things you thought you knew, but were so wrong about?  Jarly friendship and everything else is TBD.  New character introduced...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **For the record, Carly came to town in 1996. I'm going to say she was eighteen- almost nineteen- when she arrived, since I really don't know how old she was at the time. This story takes place during the Metro Court fiasco, just after the lobby blew up, with a few minor alterations to the history we know. REVIEW please! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **I own only my over-active imagination and the plot it has come up with surrounding the citizens of Port Charles.

Chapter One 

She was getting out of there- she _had_ to get out. She couldn't take it anymore- couldn't take the looks in her friends' eyes that spoke volumes about their hatred for her; they all blamed her for Charlotte's death. She couldn't take the sadness and pain that had lingered in her mother's eyes for the past year, ever since her little sister had been kidnapped. Virginia Benson blamed her for Jillian's kidnapping, for living when her precious baby girl had probably lost her innocent life. And what hurt the most was that they were all right- she would carry the guilt over both Charlotte's and Jillian's deaths with her for the rest of her life.

That didn't mean she had to stick around and take those looks, though. In fact, there was no way she _could_. Every day, she was reminded of her little sister- Jilly had been bright and happy because, unlike Caroline, she'd never been given any reason to doubt the love of her family. It had been a year since Jillian, who should have turned sixteen next week, had disappeared, and an already out of control Caroline had only continued her spiraling journey downward since that day.

As she packed her bags, a teary-eyed Caroline debated whether or not to take anything to remind her of her little sister- forever frozen in her memory as a gangly fifteen-year-old with freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose and braces on her teeth- and finally grabbed her favorite photo off her desk.

Jilly had decorated the wooden frame, writing in purple glitter the word "Sisters" across the top and in the same color and the same curly script at the bottom, "Best Friends." There were green squiggles and dots on both of the sides, and Jilly had placed a picture of the two of them holding ice-cream cones on the wharf at the beach the summer Jillian had gone missing. Charlotte Roberts, better known as Carly, had taken the picture. That day had been one of the last the three of them had been so happy.

Caroline reverently placed the framed picture in her backpack and zipped the powder blue bag up. She took one last look around the bedroom that held so many memories- some good, some bad, and all of them painful now- and crept down the stairs and out of the house, knowing she would never return.

**0o0o0o0**

For five years, Jillian Benson had been tortured and terrorized, held hostage by a man she'd considered a friend and trusted for years. The physical and emotional scars of that period of her life had continued to haunt her for two more years, even after she'd finally escaped after killing- in self-defense- the man that had made it his mission in life to destroy her spirit. For two years, she'd worked as a waitress at a diner in a small-town that only survived because of the interstate highway it was located practically right on top of.

She'd finally gotten up the courage to return home, scared of what she might find when she returned. It had after all been six years since she'd disappeared into the basement of her sister's best friend's home, and she was sure her family had long since thought her dead. Not to mention the fact that she hadn't even wanted to contemplate their reactions to finding out that it was none other than Dr. Daniel Roberts, especially her sister Caroline's.

Instead, when she'd returned from Hell, as she had long ago dubbed her windowless confinement, she'd discovered Caroline gone, Carly- her sister's best friend for as long as Jillian could remember, and Dan's daughter- dead, and her mother Virginia dead. After a tear-filled weekend, Jillian had left Florida and promised herself she would never go back to the place she could now only associate with heartache.

For another year, Jillian had debated the wisdom of launching a search for her sister, certain that after so much time Caroline now had a life and family and wouldn't want to be reminded of the life she'd left behind. She had eventually concluded that she could at least learn her sister's whereabouts- there was after all no law that said she _had_ to contact Caroline.

Her search, conducted via the wonderful World Wide Web, had uncovered Caroline "Carly" Benson-Corinthos, and ultimately helped Jillian make the decision to move to Port Charles, New York, where her sister was currently residing. Still, she hadn't made any contact with Carly. It was enough for the apprehensive twenty-seven-year-old just to be close to her sister and know she was alive and well.

At least, it had been until about ten minutes ago when she'd heard on the television and rediscovered the reason she didn't watch the news- there was simply too much violence for the already traumatized Jillian to face- and heard that the Metro Court Hotel, which Carly and her fiancé Jasper "Jax" Jacks owned, had been taken hostage by several masked gunmen several hours ago and that the lobby- where the hostages were being detained- had just exploded.

That had been the turning point for Jillian, who had remained frozen on the couch of her studio apartment for several seconds before jumping up so fast that her knee had collided with the rather sharp corner of her coffee table, not that she'd paid much attention to that fact, and swiping her keys off the hook beside her door. She'd made a mad-dash to her car and driven as fast as she could to the hospital, praying the whole way there that her sister was alright.

Despite the fact that Jillian hadn't spoken to Carly in nine years, she loved her sister. Fear and apprehension had kept her away for years, but she swore that if Carly was okay she would make every attempt to be a part of her sister's life again. Caroline Leigh Benson-Corinthos was, without a doubt, the strongest person Jillian knew… she just _had_ to be alright, because whether Jillian had allowed herself to admit, even to herself, over the years- she _needed_ her sister and didn't want to think about losing her, not like that, not for good.

By the time she stepped into the ER, Jillian was frantic to find her sister, terrified that she would hear Caroline had not survived the blast. After enduring so much pain in the span of her life, Jillian had learned not to ever hope too much because it just hurt that much more when whatever you were hoping for didn't happen. The small portion of her mind that was still thinking logically kept reminding her not to get her hopes up, that even if Caroline was okay, she might not want anything to do with her. But as she stumbled into the ER, barely managing not to trip over her own to feet, Jillian couldn't bring herself to care about whatever the future might hold, so long as her big sister was alright.

Tears were pooling in her hazel eyes, making it difficult to see anything in front of her, and Jillian collided with what felt like a brick wall that smelled of leather and smoke. Because that really didn't make any sense to her, she jerked her head up, only to come face to face with the man she knew from various newspaper articles and local gossip to be her sister's best friend. He looked so heartbroken that Jillian almost crumbled to the floor right then, thinking the absolute worst had happened and Caroline hadn't survived. _She has to be okay_, Jillian thought, terrified by the possibility of anything else. _She has to._

Jason reached out his hands instinctively to steady the young woman who had barreled into him, his callused hands coming to rest on slender shoulders covered by a denim jacket he was sure did little to protect her from the cold outside.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not so much wanting to know her reason for trying to walk right through him but because he wanted to make sure she hadn't been hurt in anyway when she had slammed into him.

Because thinking wasn't high on her list of priorities right then, Jillian barely managed to nod her head dumbly. Two thoughts had control of her mind at the moment- that she had to get to Caroline, whom she didn't think she would ever be able to call "Carly," and that her sister simply had to be okay.

Jason eyed her curiously for a moment or two longer before releasing her and watching her practically trip the short distance to the Nurses Station.

"C-C-Caroline Corinthos," Jillian stammered, much to Jason's surprise. Just that quickly, Jillian had landed herself on his "Under Suspicion" list, and she didn't even know it. At that moment, though, she probably wouldn't have cared, either. Her concern was for her sister, not herself.

Before Jason- or the frazzled nurse, for that matter- had a chance to reply, Carly took matters into her own hands as she rounded the corner, two steaming hot coffees in her hands, and queried a bit more harshly than was probably necessary, "Who's askin'?"

Caught completely off-guard, Jillian spun around so quickly she could feel her left ankle twist beneath her as it gave out. The pain barely registered, though, as Jillian took in the sight of her sister- and what a sight Carly made.

Though she was clearly dressed for a formal function, her curly blond hair had been darkened by soot, her dress torn, her make-up ruined, and she had various cuts and bruises all over her face, arms, and legs. But she was standing, had obviously retained her slightly belligerent attitude, and was quirking an eyebrow at her in that familiar way of hers that almost always meant trouble was just up ahead, and that's all that mattered to Jillian just then.

It took Carly all of about half a second to recognize the oval face of the young woman standing in front of her. Gone were the braces and her lanky teenage form had been replaced by slight womanly curves. The same spattering of freckles could be seen dotting the ridge of her nose. Her strawberry blond hair was cut short, barely long enough to tuck behind her ears, and the hazel eyes glimmered with tears and fear rather than dancing with laughter and happiness as they had years ago. But Carly knew she would recognize that face anywhere.

Two forgotten cups of coffee crashed the floor, the Styrofoam containers breaking with the fall and hot liquid pooling in the space between the sisters. "Oh, my God," Carly muttered in disbelief, understandably having some difficulty grasping the fact that her sister was standing in front of her.

Jillian went to move away from the counter she'd been leaning on, though she still wasn't sure if she should be running toward Caroline or away from her, and nearly fell to the ground when she found that her ankle wouldn't support her. Fortunately for her, there was a strong, honor-bound enforcer standing one long-legged stride away from her and he easily caught her before she could do more damage.

Jason, admittedly curious as to how the young woman currently resting in his arms knew his best friend and intrigued by Carly's reaction to seeing her, carried Jillian over to an empty chair and set her down carefully. Her ankle would need medical attention, but they were in a hospital so that wasn't too hard to get. It would have to wait until the ER had calmed down a little, as the staff was still treating victims from the explosion at the Metro Court- which would have the added benefit of giving him enough time to get some answers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Well, I suck at math, LOL… So, Carly is 26, almost 27, and Michael is 9 (as he is supposed to be, without having been aged the two years by the writers who are just trying to confuse me!!!) and Jillian is 24, not 27, because she was 15 when she went missing and it's been 9 years and 15+924, not 27. Okay, then, now that we've gotten that little impromptu math lesson finished, let me just say that I am so glad people are liking this story! I see Lulu and Carly's interaction, and I just go, "Gee, I wonder if this is what Carly would be like with a sister…" and TADA! This story was born.

Also, I have no idea where the couples are going, but I will at least consider Jarly- I like Carly and Jason together, so it's possible that this could go that route. I'm really kind of up in the air here- maybe you all could help me: I like the idea of Jason and Alexis, and you can thank Ayshen for that because she completely got me hooked on them! I also like Carly and Jason, but part of me wonders if they aren't just better off as friends because there's the whole Carly/Sonny mess (which I swear should be over), but I really like Carly and Jax together- when he isn't running off to the ends of the Earth to save Jerry, that is… So, any input you feel like giving, feel free- I'll at least consider it, and if it doesn't end up in this story, it will end up in one later- I am always open to messing with these characters' lives, LOL…

And so, with that exceptionally long A/N, I give you Chapter Two… -Jess

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, you're funny…

Chapter Two 

Dreams don't just come true- if you want something, you have to make it happen, not expect it to just be handed to you. Hadn't Carly learned that years ago? Hadn't she lived her life for almost a decade now making things happen? Of course she had- she was Carly Corinthos, after all. But this… the young woman sitting in the plastic chair in front of her, a tremulous smile on her lips… this moment was a dream. A familiar dream, on Carly had carried with her, deep in her heart, and stubbornly refused to give up, but still knowing all along that it was just a dream- and one that would never come true, at that.

Yet there she was- Jillian Rhea Benson, no longer the fifteen-year-old frozen in Carly's memory, but a young woman with haunting memories that filled her hazel eyes. Her dream- the one dream she'd always been so certain would never come true- was staring her right in the face. And she hadn't done anything to make it happen; there had been nothing for her to do. If there had, if Carly alone had been able to bring her sister safely back to her, she would have done so years ago. No, this wasn't a dream… This was a miracle in the truest sense of the word, in Carly's opinion.

Carly stepped forward, narrowly avoiding the spilled coffee, and crouched down in front of her sister, tears filling her blue eyes as she gently placed cupped Jilly's face, still not quite believing she was real, and slightly surprised when she found her sister's skin to be warm and smooth. This was really happening- Jillian was alive.

"Jilly." The name came out on an amazed laugh and a smile blossomed across Carly's face as she wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, pulling the young woman close to her and holding her so tightly Jason wondered if Jillian would break- it seemed to him as though Carly was never planning on releasing the other blond.

"You're okay," Jillian sighed, relief coursing through her as she and her sister embraced. This was a moment nine years in the making, as the two clung to each other, neither completely believing the other was safe and real, and terrified of pulling out of the hug.

Her statement made Carly laugh and shake her head as she reluctantly released Jillian, only to take her sister's hands in her own almost immediately, needing some form of constant contact with the girl she'd thought dead for so long.

"_I'm okay_?" Carly asked incredulously, tightening her hold on her sister's hands. "How about _you're okay_! I… Geez, Jillian, I don't even know where to begin here!" She shook her head once more at her sister and pasted on her practiced "I'm-the-mom-so-spill" look, which only added to Jason's confusion, and continued, "I'm thrilled to see you again, really I am, but you have some _serious_ explaining to do, little sister."

"Little _sister_?" Jason chocked out, wondering how he'd never known Carly had a little sister. As important as family was to the fiery blond, who'd professed to have had so little of it growing up, why had he never so much as heard Jillian's name before now? Carly told him everything- sometimes more than he even wanted to know- and yet… he hadn't known about her sister.

Carly turned her attention to her best friend, sadness engulfing her as she noted the pained look in his ice blue eyes. She hadn't meant for her secret to hurt him, hadn't meant for it to ever come up. But thinking about Jillian hurt too much- talking about her had been impossible. She'd never meant to keep Jason in the dark, not about this, she'd just been doing what she was best at- protecting herself.

Slowly, Carly bobbed her head up and down, knowing that she needed to make her best friend understand why he'd never heard about Jilly or risk losing his friendship and trust- Jason didn't take kindly to being shut out, most especially by Carly and Sonny. "Jillian was kidnapped when she was fifteen, Jase… I thought she was…"

Even now, with her sister sitting right in front of her, Carly couldn't bring herself to say the word "dead," not in reference to Jillian, who had always been so full of life.

Jason didn't need any more than that, though- he could see the heartache written all across Carly's expressive face and knew where she'd been heading. He knew Carly well enough to know that losing her sister would have broken her heart. Carly hadn't told him about Jillian because she hadn't been able to think of her sister as being dead, wanting to keep the memory of her as she'd been before the kidnapping.

It was no wonder, then, that she'd taken Michael's kidnapping and alleged death so hard- not that any mother wouldn't have taken _that_ hard, but Carly had already been down that road once before with Jillian. She really was one of the strongest women he knew and, for all of her faults and craziness, he wouldn't change a thing about his best friend.

Feeling horrible for the past four years where she'd purposely stayed away from Caroline and let her believe she was dead, Jillian found herself fighting the urge to let tears fall. "I'm sorry," she told her sister, her voice broken and filled with loathing for herself and her choices and pain for what she'd unintentionally put her older sister through.

Carly quickly turned her gaze from Jason to her sister, not bothering to mask the confusion she felt at hearing an apology. Jason's attention, too, drifted over to Jillian, and he wondered if maybe he should leave the two of them alone to catch up, but Carly had one hand fisted in the sleeve of his leather jacket and another resting on her sister's clasped hands.

"What could you possibly have to be sorry for, Jilly?" Carly asked, using the same curious but soft tone she'd used with her boys and with her cousin Lulu. "It wasn't your fault you were kidnapped, sweetheart."

Jillian shook her head- she knew it wasn't her fault she'd been kidnapped and held captive in a basement for five years by a man she'd trusted, but it was her fault that Caroline had spent nearly twice as long as she should have believing something that wasn't true. "No, but I should have come to you sooner," she told her sister, her voice wavering and her bottom lip wobbling as she fought back her tears.

And there it was, the statement that would lead them into the conversation they'd been trying to find a way to start the past few minutes, none of them sure how to go about it. "What happened nine years ago, Jilly? Where have you been?" Where had she been held? Where had she been after? When had she gotten away? How had she gotten away? So many questions to be answered…

Hitching in a breath, preparing to relive as much of that nightmare as she was willing to ever again give details on- she'd told the cops everything they'd needed to know when she'd accidentally stabbed Dan Roberts with the knife he'd been holding to her throat, but she refused to share those horror-filled memories with her sister- and began filling her sister and Jason, since Caroline seemed reluctant to let him go, despite the fact that even Jillian could see his uneasiness at being stuck in the middle of a family reunion, in on her life the past several years.

"I had walked over to Carly's to give her back that purple sweater you'd borrowed from her. Remember, it was the one that I borrowed from you and, when I went to return it to you, you told me I may as well take it back to her?" Jillian said, beginning her trip down memory lane.

Jason was momentarily confused, hearing Jillian make reference to someone as Carly other than, well, Carly, before he realized it was Reese Jillian was talking about. He'd have to remember that Jillian had known Reese as Carly and Carly as Caroline.

Carly, on the other hand, wasn't at all confused. Instead, she was remembering the moment she'd found out Jillian had never made it the short distance from their house to Reese's, as she know thought of Charlotte Roberts. She'd have to be sure to tell Jillian all about that, too, but right now she was too busy feeling guilty about her sister's disappearance- after all, she _had_ been the one to send Jilly over to the Roberts' house.

Without commenting, Carly nodded her head, silently encouraging her sister to go on with her story. With a faraway look in her eyes, Jillian did as she was bid, slipping into her memories of that day and everything after.

"The flowers Mrs. Roberts had planted the spring before were blooming and I stopped to smell them. They were such pretty roses, such an unusual shade. I went up to the door and knocked a few times. I didn't think anyone was home because no one was coming to the door. I was just about to turn around to go back home when Mr. Roberts pulled the door open."

"He _what_?" Carly interrupted, certain she was hearing things wrong- her sister couldn't have just said Dan Roberts had actually _opened_ the door. He'd said he hadn't seen Jilly that day; that she'd never gone over. They hadn't even been _home_, for crying out loud! Right?

Shaken out of her memory-induced trance, Jillian stared at Carly as though she'd grown a second head. Hadn't she clearly said that he'd opened the door? What was so difficult about that? "He opened the door," Jillian repeated, this time a little more slowly, just in case maybe she'd run her words together before- she had a tendency to do that when she was nervous. As her sister continued to gape at her, she continued.

"He told me no one else was home and that he'd been in his study- he almost hadn't heard me knocking, he said. He invited me in and said I could just take the sweater upstairs to Carly's room. So, I went in and upstairs. I left the sweater in the middle of Carly's bed, folded neatly.

"I never even heard him sneak up on me, but when I turned around, he was there. He had this weird look in his eyes that made me nervous; I'd never seen that look on his face before. In the movies, sure, the serial killer always has it or the obsessed stalker… But I'd never seen it on Mr. Roberts' face."

Jillian's memories had once more taken hold of her, preventing her from noticing the horrified look on Carly's face as she talked about what had happened that day or the concerned look on Jason's face at Carly's reaction. Not noticing these things, she went on.

"He told me that it was all my fault; that I never should have existed. That if Mom had just gotten the abortion like he'd told her to, his marriage wouldn't be in shambles. He said he should just kill me right then, but that he couldn't bring himself to do it- I was his daughter, after all, and he couldn't end my life. Not then. But he had to make me pay for ruining his marriage- Kathryn had never trusted him again after she'd found out about his and Mom's affair, and she was always sniffing around and threatening to take Carly and leave. He couldn't have that anymore- if he just got rid of me, Kathryn wouldn't have anything to remind her of the affair, wouldn't have to look at the product of it day after day.

"He took me down to the basement. I tried to fight him, Carrie, I did," she said, using her childhood nickname for her sister- and even that had rarely been used. "He was just too strong. No one was home and all of the windows were shut, the drapes pulled closed. No one heard me, no one saw us fighting. He shut me in the basement; it was soundproof, remember? He'd done that back when he'd used it as a study, before they'd added on to the house, so he could work without distractions. No one had gone down there in years.

"He'd sort of made it into two rooms, with a divider in the middle so that I couldn't get to the door and pound on it the way I tried to at first. He locked me in the smaller of the two- off to the side of the stairs, where all of the boxes of his dad's stuff had been before he got rid of it, remember?

"I'd pound and pound on the walls, and scream until my throat hurt, but it didn't do me any good. No one ever came down, except for him- sometimes he'd have food or water, sometimes he'd tell me it was all for my own good, but mostly he'd hit me or… or… worse. And when he left, he always had this terrible smile on his face."

Carly couldn't take it anymore, couldn't listen to it any longer. How much had her sister just revealed? How many lies had Dan Roberts told over the years? How much pain had Jillian suffered at his hands? She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her little sister, wondering how such a sweet little girl like Jillian had survived years of torture with that monster.

For his part, Jason watched in stunned silence as Carly released her hold on him and latched onto Jillian and wondered what he would have done right then if he didn't know that Dan Roberts was already dead. That someone could hurt a child, in anyway let alone the ways he could only imagine Roberts had abused Jillian, was unthinkable to him. Added to that the fact that she was apparently his own daughter, it repulsed him.

Neither Carly nor Jason yet understood why Jillian had felt the need to apologize, but then neither of them particularly cared at that moment, anyway. They were both too furious with Dan Roberts for breaking a fifteen-year-old girl the way he had and taking her away from her sister- correction, _sisters_, since apparently both Caroline "Carly" Benson and Charlotte "Carly" Roberts/Reese Marshall were her sisters… And they were both wondering how Reese was going to take all of this…

A/N: So, as you can see, Reese is alive and well. But is she in PC or did she leave? Did she and Carly make-up and become friends again? And how will she take the news that her father kidnapped her half-sister and held her in their basement for half a decade and abused her? REVIEW please!!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm still not sure who I want to pair with who, but I do know this: Jillian will not be with Jason, so don't worry. They'll end up with sort of a big brother/little sister relationship because Jillian is important to Carly, and at the very least Carly is Jason's best friend. I haven't decided whether I want them to be anything more or not, but I know there are some Jarly fans reading this, so I am taking it into serious consideration. It's all a matter of how to make the story flow and what the story dictates. As to Jillian having a love interest, I'm not sure who I should pair her with- she's got some serious trust issues with guys, and she won't find it easy to just slip into a relationship and let someone in like that. If I pair her with anyone, it will have to be someone who can help her overcome her fears and, I think, it will have to be someone with a past of their own they want to escape- so Jillian will end up helping him overcome his fears and insecurities, as well. If you have any ideas on that front, let me know! 

The events of this past summer as far as the whole Alexis/Ric/Sam/Jason/Liz mess go have been altered to fit my story- and simply because I didn't like who that all worked out. Sam and Ric did sleep together and Jason and Alexis did see, and Jason and Sam broke up. Alexis and Ric got divorced. Sam is not going to be Alexis's daughter, because I am really fed up with Sam right now. I miss the way Sam used to be, but that would require a whole lot of re-writing! Alexis and Jason have called a truce and Jason is helping Alexis find her daughter.

I am really sorry for the delay, by the way- first, we cut-off our landline, since we all use our cell phones- and the phone company cuts off our Internet instead… Can you just imagine how thrilled we were? That took about a week- a week!- to get fixed! Sheesh… Then, my computer died- the day we got the Internet back. Yep, I was thrilled. So, anyway- sorry! Enjoy the story!

-Jess

Disclaimer: Don't even get me started on what I would do if I _did_ own GH! Chapter Three 

Carly looked over at Jason with pleading eyes, silently asking him to help her make things okay for her sister, though she didn't know how he could. All she knew was that Jason was always there to help her fix her life when she felt as broken as Jillian looked, crying her eyes out in a hard plastic chair in the ER's waiting room. There was no doubt in her mind that her best friend, her rock, would help her sister, too.

Jason didn't even want to think about how many times he'd caved to that look in the past, nor did he want to think about the fact that he knew he was going to cave now. He'd do anything to keep Carly safe and happy- because when Carly wasn't happy, she tended to do things that put her in danger, and Jason couldn't handle the thought of losing his semi-psychotic best friend.

So, he gave in- as usual. He knew what was coming, what she was going to ask him- and he knew he'd do whatever she asked him to. Because this wasn't one of Carly's crazy, half-baked plans- this was about helping Carly rebuild her relationship with her sister and about helping Jillian move past the trauma she'd endured.

Carly rocked back on her heels, her hands falling to rest on Jillian's slender shoulders. "Jilly, how about Jase and I take you to Sonny's, okay- we have a lot we need to talk about, sweetie, and a hospital's not the place to do that."

She was talking to Jillian the same way she'd talked to Sonny during his break-downs in the past, or the way she'd talked to Michael when he'd come home after being kidnapped by Faith and AJ, and it pained Jason to have to hear her talking that way to her sister. A sister he, her best friend and most trusted confidante, hadn't even known about because her loss had devastated Carly too much.

Because Jillian didn't want to let go of her sister, not after she had made it this far, she nodded- she didn't want to lose Caroline again, couldn't deal with the thought of doing so. There had been so many moments in those years Dan had held her that they only thing that had gotten her through was the idea that she'd see her sister again someday- sisters, she corrected herself. Even now, after so much time knowing the truth, it was hard to think of Charlotte as her sister. She'd always gotten along really well with Charlotte, treated her like another sister, but to actually have her be biologically related was somehow strange. Not in a bad way, but… just different.

Thinking about her other sister, knowing that Charlotte would never know they'd been sisters- which might actually be why Jillian found it such a hard concept to grasp- brought back bittersweet memories of the girl next-door with the chocolate brown hair that had been Caroline's best friend for so many years. She wondered how Charlotte's death had impacted her sister, but she didn't dare ask- if Caroline hadn't told anyone about her because it was too painful, she was fairly certain she hadn't told anyone about Charlotte. Losing a best friend, one you were as close to as Caroline and Charlotte had been, had to be just as difficult and traumatizing as losing a sister. They were both life-changing events.

Of course, so was having that sister come back from the supposed dead- okay, so maybe there'd never been any confirmation that she was dead to lead people to that conclusion, but she'd been missing long enough for people to have thought it. Caroline had thought it.

Jillian barely registered the drive to Greystone- that's what Caroline had told her the manor was called on the way there. Jilly found it fascinating that the place had a name- it reminded her of the old houses that always had dignified sounding names, and her favorite books, _Anne of Green Gables_. From there, her thoughts had wandered even further, with her mind clearly wanting to think about anything but the past nine years. Instead, she thought about her past, about her childhood, about growing up with Caroline and Charlotte.

There had been a day when her greatest dream was to be a writer, like Anne Shirley in the books she'd loved so much. She remembered when Caroline had bought her the entire series one year for her birthday, while Charlotte had bought her the boxed video set of the movies and a journal, to start her own story. She hadn't written in years, not like she had back then, at least. Now, when she even attempted it, not that she had in a couple of years, what came to mind were dark and grisly images she didn't even want to think, let alone put on paper for others to read and think about. Writing had been so much easier when she'd been younger; she'd filled page after page with memories of days spent at the beach or silly arguments with Caroline, crazy mishaps while making dinner… So lighthearted and fun.

Would there ever come a day when she could write the way she had before? Find joy in it? Want to share it with others? As the car pulled to a stop and her gaze landed on her sister, Jillian realized that, just maybe, there was a chance because she'd taken the first step in finding her way back to a quasi-normal life by coming to see Caroline. Her life would never be the same as it had been before she'd been kidnapped- she and Caroline had both grown-up and changed, Charlotte and their mother were dead… No, too much had happened to go back to that, but maybe she could have a life that was just as good now.

Carly opened the door of the navy Sedan, eager for her sister to see the surprises awaiting her inside- not that those surprises knew that they were surprises. She couldn't wait to see the look on Reese's face when she saw Jillian or the look on Jilly's face when she realized Reese was Charlotte.

It still surprised her a little at how well she and Reese had been able to find their way back to the friendship they'd once shared. It was by no means the same, given the time that had passed, and they no longer painted each other's toenails and gossiped about the hottest new couple at school, obviously, but they went to lunch together and shopping together- they even got ready for social events together, most of the time- it was so much easier to bring Michael and Morgan over and let Sonny help them get ready while she and Reese got themselves and Sonny and Reese's daughter ready.

Sonny and Reese's daughter- oh, was Jillian in for a surprise with that one. Carly wondered how her sister would react when she heard the name the couple had picked out. She herself had cried on Reese's shoulder when her friend had told her, glad that Reese had told her in private. Sonny and Reese had made a more public announcement together at a rather large family dinner at the Metro Court- Sonny, Reese, Carly, Michael, Morgan, Jason, Bobbie, and Mike had all been there. Because she'd already heard it from Reese, she'd been able to hide the sadness that had gripped her heart at the name: Jillian Caroline Corinthos.

Not that anyone called the curly-haired fifteen-month-old little girl Jillian or even Jilly. Neither Reese nor Carly could imagine referring to anyone else by those names- before she'd even been born, little Jillian Caroline had been dubbed J.C., which had turned into Jacey before too long, and that was the name everyone used.

Jillian trailed behind Jason and Carly as they walked up the stone path, marveling at the beautiful architecture of the home. She noticed immediately that Sonny- or more likely his gardener- had planted the same roses Mrs. Roberts had planted in her garden what seemed like a lifetime ago, the ones she'd stopped to smell that fateful day that had changed her life.

Carly noticed the look on her younger sister's face at the sight of the roses and smiled to herself. They were Chicago Peace roses- Reese's favorites. Reese had planted them herself, which had baffled Sonny and reminded Carly of weekends spent helping Kathryn Roberts in her garden, which had usually ended with Reese, Jillian, and herself throwing soil at one another or turning the garden hose on each other or Kathryn. She herself wasn't much for gardening- why ruin a manicure when she could pay someone else to do the dirty work?- but back then… it had been fun. And it had gotten her out of the house- besides, in those days, she hadn't had the money to pay someone else.

But Carly didn't realize that the sight of the roses didn't conjure up happy memories for Jillian. For her, they were a symbol of the end of her life as she'd known it. They symbolized the loss of her innocence- lost in so many ways, the exclusion of joy, happiness, laughter, and love in her life, and reminded her of how she'd once been a smiling, happy, teenager with her whole life ahead of her- eagerly anticipating that life, her arms spread wide to embrace it. Right now, the only thing she wanted to embrace was her sister- and drag her back into the car, where she wouldn't have to face whoever was within the mansion's walls.

There had been a time when Jillian had hated being alone, loathed silence. Now she craved it- it was the only thing that seemed even a little bit normal to her. It was familiar. And she hated its familiarity, despite the need she felt for it- a need brought on by years of loneliness and of silence, of waiting for someone to find her. She wanted to need laughter again, not be terrified by the unfamiliar sound. She wanted to need friendship and love again- words that had long since vanished from her vocabulary.

Carly didn't even bother knocking on the door- it was, after all, her ex-husband and best friend's home… Okay, so maybe to anyone else, that would probably be a reason _to _knock on the door, but this was Carly Corinthos, and she didn't play by anyone else's rules but her own- and even those changed with rapid frequency.

She pushed the door open, greeted Max with an ear-to-ear smile that left the guard wondering what the object of his affection was up to now. Following closely behind her was Jason, his face giving nothing about the situation away- as usual- but Max figured it was probably a good thing Jason was already involved in whatever mess Carly had gotten herself into; he'd make sure she didn't get into _too_ much trouble. Or, at the very least, he'd be there to bail her out when she got in over her head- yeah, that scenario was far more likely.

But it was the little blond waif of a girl who was tucked in between the best friends that caught Max's attention- who was she and why was she there? Questions he didn't have the answers to- yet. A little eavesdropping was clearly in order… But, then, what else was new.

Max didn't even bother trying to beat Carly and company to the door to Sonny's den. Instead, he lingered and pulled the door shut- okay, most of the way shut- and listened as Carly hollered up the stairs for Reese and Sonny.

Jillian moved closer to her sister as they waited for Sonny and Reese to come down the stairs. Much to her relief, Sonny and Reese- who had a babbling little girl on her hip- were laughing at Carly's summons and didn't notice her immediately.

"Everything okay, Carly?" Reese asked, already having figured out that, whatever the reason for Carly's unexpected visit, it wasn't anything bad. Her friend was grinning like crazy, for crying out loud- although that could mean that whatever Carly had planned could be very bad for someone else.

"Better than it's been in nine years," Carly replied with a sparkle in her eyes. She could barely contain her enthusiasm at finally having Jillian back- she'd gotten a second chance, and really a third, with Reese and now she had a second chance with her sister… She was pretty much on Cloud Nine right about then.

_Nine years?_ Reese thought. _That's an odd number- I wonder why she said that. _ Reese set her wiggling daughter down on the floor after they'd climbed over the baby gate and watched as she toddled over to some of her favorite toys- a cell phone that didn't work and a plastic set of keys. Sonny and Reese sat down on the couch, but Carly, Jason, and Jillian all remained standing right in front of the door- with Jillian now hiding behind Jason as he provided better cover.

"Alright, I'll bite- why is everything better than it's been in nine years?" Reese asked, arching one fine chestnut eyebrow.

Carly felt like a little kid on Christmas- not the little kid waiting for everyone to wake up so she could open her presents, but the little kid that was just absolutely positive she'd gotten Mom or Dad the best present in the world and couldn't wait to see it opened. She stepped aside, not realizing that her sister was now cowering behind her muscular best friend, and motioned at… thin air. When Reese and Sonny just raised questioning eyebrows, Carly turned to face the door and frowned. Then she reached for her sister's hand, which Jillian grudgingly gave, and slowly pulled her into Reese and Sonny's line of sight.

A startled gasp escaped Reese as she took in the young woman standing in front of her, and her hand flew up to her heart. She'd always wondered why people did that and now she knew- it was to see if their hearts really were still beating in their chests and not in their throats or something. She really felt like the darned thing was going to pound itself right through her ribcage with as fast as it was beating.

She shook her head in disbelief- sure, she'd come back from the realm of the supposed-dead, but somehow it was harder to believe when you were the person seeing the supposed-dead as opposed to being the not-so-ghostly person.

Sonny was utterly confused as he sat beside his wife, wondering what he'd missed. Everyone else in the room- everyone over the age of two, that was- seemed to be clued in on what was going on… not him. The look on Reese's face, though, told him he wouldn't get an answer even if he asked- she was too caught up in whatever it was he wasn't getting. As for Carly… Well, she looked like the cat that swallowed the canary, her smile was so big. And Jason would tell him it wasn't his place to tell, which left him with one option- wait for someone else to say something.

It didn't take long for Reese to croak out, "Jillian?"

The blond holding so tightly to Carly's hand nodded, but looked rather surprised by the greeting- Carly's grin only grew, if that was at all possible. Even Jason had a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth, though he was trying valiantly to fight it. By that point, Sonny had recognized the name Jillian- he'd never known to whom the name belonged, or why the name was so important, but Reese had been adamant that their little girl be named Jillian Caroline (Caroline he understood), and just as adamant that she never be called Jillian, Jilly, or Jill. He'd asked a time or two but never received more than a shake of the head from Reese in reply, so he'd let it go. Apparently, he was finally going to find out what made this Jillian person so special.

It took Reese a second to realize that Jillian didn't recognize her- and why would she? All that plastic surgery had certainly changed her facial features- even Carly hadn't recognized her when she'd come to town. "It's me, Jilly- it's Carly." 

At that statement, Jillian's eyes went wide as saucers. Gaping, she turned to her sister, looking to Caroline for the answer to a question she was too shocked to ask- and was even more stunned with Caroline nodded her head in confirmation. "It's a _really_ long story, kiddo, but the short version is that Charlotte is alive- only now, she's Reese Corinthos."

For the space of several heartbeats, the only sound you could hear in the room was Jacey happily chattering to herself and the clanking of the plastic keys as she jiggled them in her chubby fist. Jillian's eyes were glued to Reese's as she searched for something- what, even she wasn't sure- and she gave a little grin as she found whatever that microscopic piece of evidence was that reaffirmed to her that this really was Charlotte Reese Roberts, alive and well… using a different name, but that wasn't anything new for this group.

Reese knew the instant Jillian believed it, she saw the truth written on her friend's face and quickly stood, racing over to the girl she'd given up hope of ever seeing again, and hugging her fiercely.

As Reese and Jillian laughed and cried and hugged, thrilled to know that neither of them were dead, Carly turned her attention to Sonny and said with a warm smile and answered the questions he'd been patiently waiting to ask.

"Sonny," she said, and Jillian and Reese separated just enough that Sonny could look at Jilly and see who he was being introduced to, "there's a lot you don't know about my past- a lot that no one knows about my past, except the people from it. You found that out when Reese here came to town. You also know that I have had my reasons for not telling you about those things, and have- for the most part- respected them. When I came to Port Charles, I never told anyone about Jillian- in fact, by then it had been several months since I'd spoken about her to anyone. It hurt too much- she'd been kidnapped a year before I came here, and I couldn't bring myself to think about what she might have gone through and that she could be dead- and, the more time that passed, the more I realized how likely it was that she was gone. And that hurt, Sonny, it hurt to even think about. But here she is- nine years after being kidnapped, standing in yours and Reese's den, in awe over the fact that Reese is Charlotte and that she's not dead."

She placed her hand on her sister's arm in a comforting gesture- as much to comfort Jillian as herself- and finished, "Sonny Corinthos, I'd like you to meet Jillian Rhea Benson, my sister- Virginia Benson's daughter."

Before Sonny had completely wrapped his mind around that statement, a confused Reese asked, "Don't you mean, Virginia and Frank's daughter?" There was something about the way Carly had said Virginia's name- and left Frank's out- that had Reese very curious- could this have something to do with why Jillian had been kidnapped? An angry biological father, furious over having been cut out of his daughter's life- is that what had happened?

But it wasn't Carly who answered the question- it was Jilly. "Virginia Benson… and Dan Roberts'," Jillian said, tears filling eyes that wouldn't quite meet Reese's.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **And by popular vote- and the voices in my head telling me that it just _has_ to be done- this **will be a Jarly story**. Granted, as Carly is currently engaged to Jax, that will take some time, but I have these little voices- that sound suspiciously like Carly, Jason, and my mother- telling me that Carly and Jason should be together. So, stick around, dear readers, because it _will_ happen.

As for Jillian… I have to say that Zander hadn't even entered my mind- he'd probably be a fairly decent choice, given what I know about him, but I didn't really watch during the time he was on- I've watched GH off and on (mostly on) for a large majority of my life (say fifteen out of twenty years), but that was during an "off" period. Being such, I don't feel I would do his character justice trying to write him. And, though I love the whole Lulu/Logan thing going on right now, I think Logan would best suit the story- so I will eventually have Logan and Jillian meet and see if, maybe, they can help each other overcome their issues. Then again, even I don't know if they will be able to- we'll see how the story goes.

I'd like to thank you all for your comments- your reviews always make me smile- and for your input. I hope you like this chapter as much- or more- as you did the last! -Jess

**Disclaimer: **I guess I'm still wishing on the wrong star. Damn.

**Chapter Four**

There were a lot of things Jillian had wished for in her life- a good grade on a test, for it not to rain so she could go to the beach, for someone to find her in the basement that had become a prison to her, to see her mother again, to see her sister again, to see Charlotte again… Now here she was- nine years from the day she'd been kidnapped, standing in what was in her opinion a _huge_ room, Caroline holding one hand and Charlotte holding the other. For a moment, she thought about pinching herself to see if this moment was real- she didn't see _how_ it could possibly be, but somehow it was.

There were so many questions to be asked, so many truths to be revealed, so much catching up to do, but Jillian didn't know where to start- with her story? With Charlotte's? What had happened that Charlotte had become this woman, Reese Corinthos, standing in front of her and looking so different from the girl she remembered?

Telling Caroline had been one thing, filling her in on the past and what had happened nine years ago, but telling Charlotte- it hadn't occurred to her that she would have to tell her _half-sister_ what _their father_ had done to her. Not since the day she'd discovered Charlotte was dead had she entertained such thoughts, and she realized now that even back then she hadn't had the answers- she hadn't known how to put such horrible things delicately because there was no way.

Charlotte had adored her father- had something perhaps happened in the past decade that had changed that? Did she have any idea how cruel and insane the man had been? Did she know anything about the night he'd died?

Reese smoothed back the hair from Jilly's face, wondering when she'd given up hope of ever being able to do that again as she did. "You're my sister?" she asked softly, tears welling up in her throat. She knew she was going to get all weepy on Jillian- and normally she would never even think about crying in front of someone, but she couldn't control this.

When she'd been a teenager and found Carly with her dad, Reese hadn't been as furious with her friend as she'd let on- it had just been easier to be mad at Carly than to face the truth. From the time she'd been a little girl, she'd heard her parents arguments about her father's illegitimate daughter- she'd never known the girl's identity, but she'd known she existed. She'd tried to put it out of her mind, hating thinking that her beloved father had cheated on her mother and fathered another child with some stranger. She'd hated that she had never gotten to know the girl who was her sister and it had upset her too much to even think about.

Seeing Carly with her father had brought all of those emotions she'd worked so hard to bury back up to the surface. She'd held that anger inside of her for years after, finding it so much easier to direct it at Carly than at the person truly responsible for it- Dan Roberts. That was probably why, after a long heart-to-heart, it had been so incredibly easy to mend her friendship with Carly- because they had both known she was really mad at her father.

To hear straight from Jillian's mouth, though, that _she_ was the sister Reese had never had any hope of meeting, delighted her. If she had handpicked them herself, she could not have asked for better sisters than Carly and Jillian. Carly, who may not have been her biological sister, but one she'd made a sister by choice and by love. And Jilly, whom she had thought to be much the same, who was her sister in every sense of the word. Not that Reese could choose which one of these two meant more to her- nor would she ever- because, though she loved them both in very different ways, she also loved them both just the same.

Jilly swiped at her own tears with the backs of her pale and trembling hands, but it didn't help much; tears still flowed down her face with a vengeance as she bobbed her head. It was too difficult to speak, though, and she had no idea how to tell Reese that, yes, she was her sister, but she was also the person who had killed their father- because he'd kidnapped her and tried to kill her.

Though she tried, she couldn't force her eyes to meet Reese's and found herself letting her gaze wander to the little girl who had moved over to be a part of the semi-circle the adults had formed. The precious little girl at her feet was her niece. That realization had a fist of emotion squeezing her heart tightly.

If Jillian had looked at the baby first, really looked at her, before she'd looked at Reese Corinthos, she would have known instantly that the little girl was Charlotte's. Oh, she could see a resemblance to Sonny Corinthos, there, too- the curls and the dimples, but the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the chin, the shade of the hair, and the face of the shape… It was as though she was looking at a picture of Charlotte as a baby come to life… So very different from the woman standing in front of her, Reese- and, yet, somehow so similar.

Sonny watched on avidly as Reese and Jillian took one another in. The three women standing before him had shared so much of their lives, and while Sonny was connected to all three of them since Jillian was his wife's sister and his ex-wife's sister, too, he felt almost like an intruder at that moment, watching such a private exchange as they began a healing process that should have started nearly ten years ago.

And id Sonny felt slightly out of place watching the reunion, he knew Jason certainly felt even more so. But what kept both of the mobsters watching the scene in awe was the overwhelming urge they were both now fighting to lock the women up and protect them, to keep them safe- and together. To make absolute certain that they never again experienced the pain they'd suffered thinking the others lost to them. Not that they would ever voice that particular desire, having no wish to have the Reese or Carly unleash their tempers on them.

Alright, so neither Sonny nor Jason had known about Jillian and they obviously didn't know much about her even know. And, sure, Jason still wasn't overly fond of Reese, but he tolerated and accepted her presence in his life because she was important to both Carly and Sonny. And even if they both found that they couldn't stand her, both men knew they would still accept Jillian into their lives and family and protect her, just as they would protect any other person they loved and valued.

Not that either man expected not to like Jillian. In fact, even in the short period of time they'd spent with her, the both already admired her strength and courage, knowing that it couldn't have been easy to survive the hell she'd been put through. And to Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan, strength and courage were two very important strengths.

Beyond that, though, Jason had already witnessed Jillian's loyalty to Carly. Though he didn't know much, he'd been able to put together the fact that Jillian had been away from Dan for quite some time, given that the man had been dead for years. Whatever reasons Jillian had had for not seeking out at least Carly, since she'd believed Reese to be dead, she'd put them aside when she'd feared her sister could have been hurt- or worse.

And as the men watched on in silence as Jillian's eyes shifted toward Jacey's, they both recognized that an already tear-filled and gut-wrenching reunion was about to become even more so.

Jillian moved her gaze from the babbling baby to Caroline and Charlotte- _Carly and Reese_, she corrected herself, realizing just how confusing things would get if she didn't become accustomed to using her sisters' new names- and gave her oldest sister a watery smile.

"She looks so much like you did as a baby," she told Reese, the oldest of the three sisters by a whopping three weeks. "What's her name?"

Reese being, well, Charlotte, Jillian expected that the baby girl's name held some form of sentimental value to Sonny or Reese, perhaps Kathryn after Reese's mother, but she certainly wasn't expecting the names that came out of her sister's mouth.

Reese picked up her daughter, who was more than happy to be included in the adults' conversation, and smiled as she introduced her sister to her daughter, a moment she'd never expected to experience.

"Jilly, say hello to Jillian Caroline Corinthos," Reese told her younger sister before cooing to her baby, "Jacey, this is your aunt Jilly, Mommy's little sister." 

Jillian hadn't thought she had any more tears left to cry or that her heart could feel any fuller, but she was wrong on both counts. More tears rolled down her cheeks as she held her arms out to take the wide-eyed child, who went willingly into her aunt's embrace.


End file.
